Support
by princ3ssf33t
Summary: The CSI's regularly gather together for breakfast after their shifts. Each one has their tragedy's, but some go deeper than others. Which things will be brought to light? Morganders. Post CSI: Down.


Three faces sat in what had quickly become their usual spot. Two brunettes and a blonde waited in the booth, a fourth plate of food growing colder. The females sat together across from the dark-haired man and waited for their last companion to arrive. They hadn't waited before beginning to eat.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Greg said walking into the restraint and hurrying to the table of his friends and coworkers.

"Trouble with your date Greggo?" Nick asked giving his friend a small shove as he slid into the booth.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Greg retorted.

Nick and Sara laughed at their friend's somewhat childish response. Morgan gave a small smile but it fell quickly. She hid her face behind her coffee cup. There wasn't enough coffee left in there for a full swallow, but she pretended that there was anyway. Anything to maintain maximum facial coverage and an excuse to look away from _his_ face.

She had no idea why the sight of him made her feel so. Hell, just the thought of him turned her stomach to jitters and caused her palms to sweat unnecessarily. That was one of the few things that she hated about herself. Every time she found herself even remotely attracted to someone, her palms would sweat and then they would want to hold hands.

"Hey, Morgan? Are you almost done with that coffee? Or have you found something at the bottom of you cup that's more interesting?" Greg teased.

Morgan fought blushing and lowered her cup.

The usual waitress walked over to them and gestured towards Morgan's cup.

"Refill?" She asked.

"What? Oh, yes please."

The waitress gave a smile, refilled Morgan's cup and walked away to attend to some other customers.

"So how are you doing?" Greg asked looking across the table at Morgan. He shifted in his seat and accidentally bumped her foot.

"Fine." Morgan looked down at her plate and picked at the remaining sausages. She didn't really want to deal with this at the moment. Russell had cleared her the day before and there wasn't any reason to go back into that type of mindset. And as much as she thought that she was moving past it, inside she knew that she wasn't. She still woke up in the middle of the night seeing their faces.

"Really?" Nick wasn't buying it. He still had nightmares about his being buried alive and that occurred years ago.

"Um-hmm," Morgan said running her fingers around her coffee cup.

"I call bullshit. There is no way that you are fine and dandy already, Morgan Brody," Nick said setting down his coffee cup and pointing at her.

Morgan stared back at him. She wasn't going to let him know just how exactly right he was. If there was one thing she'd learned in life, it was how to mask inside emotions.

There was a little staring contest between the two. It was more a battle of wills. They maintained the contact with the other's eyes not focusing on the people around them. They didn't see as Sara was glancing between the two of them, wondering about how to diffuse this situation peacefully. Greg was quickly shoveling his cold food into his mouth. He was hungry and needed sustenance.

"Enough," Sara burst out finally. She knew if this went on any longer that there would be unfortunate consequences. "Both of you need to back off. Nick, you know just what's she's going through, we all do. We just need to back off and let her see."

Morgan opened her mouth to protest.

"No Morgan, you listen now. We all know what you went through, we understand what you feel. There's the part of you that is angry at yourself because you didn't do anything to stop it. Part of you is ashamed because you couldn't do anything and let it happen. And a part of you is still afraid. You probably relive the event over and over in your dreams."

Morgan's mouth dropped a little, but she managed to shut it. She leaned back in the booth. That was exactly what she was feeling. She didn't think that they would be able to understand just what was running through her head.

"You see, almost five years ago there was a serial killer loose in the city."

"The one with the miniatures? I remember hearing about that on the TV," Morgan commented.

"Yes, well, we had been chasing the killer for months and were not closer to getting the killer behind bars. By the time that we had figured out just who she was, it was too late. She had ambushed me outside in a parking garage and abducted me." An edge of bitterness crept into her voice. "She took me out into the desert. I tried to escape, but I failed. She pinned me under a car that was in a previous crime scene. Then she left me to die."

"But you're still here."

"Yeah. My arm had been pinned and the rain had begun to pour in a flash flood. I happened to be in a low-lying area. In order to free myself, I needed to free my arm, and the only way to do that was to break it. I made it out of that car and started to wander around in the desert. I had broken a mirror piece to alert anyone if they came looking."

Sara closed her eyes and gripped the coffee mug in her hand just a little tighter. Images of memories raced in her mind's eye.

"By the time I was rescued I was nearly gone from dehydration. Afterwards the nightmares weren't as bad as some, but they still came. I needed time to myself to think about things. I needed to get away from the job and recollect some things about me. I needed time to rediscover who I was."

Her grip on the mug softened and she looked at the youngest at the table.

"The best part was that I managed to do just that. I figured who I was and came back. A part of me will always belong here with you people. My family."

There were smiles from the men on the other side of the table. They had known that for years.

"How else would she put up with all of us?" Greg added through a mouthful of cold eggs.

Sara laughed and rolled her eyes. You can take the crazy lab rat out of the lab, but you can't take the crazy out anywhere.

Morgan smiled. These people were certainly a family. She could sense it almost from the moment that she had arrived there. And they were quick to welcome her into their extended family. Almost like a baby sister.

She recalled something that Sara had said before she explained her ordeal.

"What do you mean that everyone knows what I went through?" She looked across the table at Nick and Greg.

Nick looked back at her with sadness in his eyes. A ghost of a memory danced there, momentarily affecting his vision. An even sadder smile appeared on his face. He gave a small glance at his younger friend beside him.

Greg would deny it if anyone had asked him. But his heart began to race and sweat began to bead across his body. He'd gotten over the guilt of what had happened to Demetrius James, but the event that happened afterwards still affected him. He avoided everyone at his table's looks.

Nick cleared his throat. The women turned to look at him.

"It was a long time ago. Two or three years before Sara's ordeal. A lunatic bent on revenge abducted me at a staged crime scene. He buried me alive in a clear box. He had an entire system set up. There was a live feed for the entire team to watch and every time the team back at the lab clicked the button to watch the feed the air supply that supplied me with the oxygen that I needed would be shut off."

"But we didn't know that that at the time," Sara interjected.

"I know Sara. I understand. All's forgiven," Nick cut back.

Greg scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortable. No one noticed, they were looking at Nick.

"But I figured it out and used the gun to shoot out the light. Unfortunately, that eventually caused the plexi-glass to crack. The dirt came in and the ants as well. Fire ants. Nasty little buggers let me tell ya, but in a way it helped them find me. But by the time that they found me the fire ant bites were causing me to hallucinate. I almost didn't make it out of there. I was almost gonna shoot myself, but they stopped me in time."

Greg's heart started beating faster. Part because of what Nick was telling, part of what he knew was going to happen next.

"Afterwards, there was a rough period in my life. I had dealt with a stalker before, but this was different. It was all in my mind. I started doubting, and that's never a good thing. Don't ever start to doubt."

"But how did you manage to get on with your life? Weren't there any repercussions?" Morgan asked.

"Every action has repercussions. And yes there were some, but having family and friends around greatly helped my recovery. Now I'm not so much afraid of anything anymore. Yes, it changed who I was, but I learned from it and grew."

Morgan nodded and turned to Greg expectant eyes. It was his turn to tell about his experience. He could feel as the flashbacks were beginning again. He opened his mouth to speak, because that was what everyone expected, it was what Morgan expected. Instead he squeaked out an excuse me and escaped into the bathroom.

* * *

They sat in silence. It had been over twenty minutes since he'd gone into the bathroom. Morgan just wondered what could have happened to him that was so bad that he couldn't talk about it. What was it? Was he embarrassed?

"What do you think is wrong with Greg?" Morgan asked looking at her friends.

"Greg, doesn't like to talk about it."

"Why? Wouldn't you think that talking about it with friends would make it feel better?"

There was a look that was shared with the brunettes. This was the conclusion that they had to come to by themselves. And this was the conclusion that she needed to figure out. They hoped that by bringing Morgan to this conclusion, she would be able to bring Greg to this conclusion as well.

Morgan's eyes lit up at what she had said.

"Excuse me."

Morgan got up and walked away from the table.

* * *

Greg wasn't well. Physically or mentally. With every blow he received in his memory another wave of nausea would clutch his stomach. His scalp ached from the memory of the chunk of hair that was pulled. There was a bald spot there for weeks.

"You okay man?" Asked a sympathetic restaurant customer as Greg retched into the sink again.

"M'fine," Greg gasped and stuck his mouth under the running faucet. He didn't need any more attention than what he was already getting. He just wanted to be alone.

"Okay." The man walked out of the bathroom.

Greg cupped his hands under the faucet and splashed water on his face. The cool fresh water mingled and masked his salty tears. His hiccupping breaths eased a bit.

"Greg?"

Greg froze. Why was he hearing her voice? Why would she come in here? What was she doing in the men's room?

* * *

"What do you think? Do you think she'll get him to start talking?" Nick asked Sara while reaching for the check.

Sara frowned when he grabbed it before her. Then she noticed the keys to the Denali sitting in Morgan's purse near the top. "But if she can't get him to start talking, I know what will."

She smiled and a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. Nick's eyes darted to the car keys and back to his friend's face. An identical grin came across his face as well.

Both sprung, reaching for the keychain. Sara reached it first and gripped it tightly. She shot Nick a triumphant smile only to have a tongue shot back at her.

"Meet you in the car."

* * *

Morgan had no idea what had gotten into her. Greg was a big boy; he could handle what life threw at him. He didn't need her to babysit him to make sure that he was alright. But something still felt wrong. Something was bothering her and gnawing at her gut, urging her to go to him.

She had always thought that Greg was a strong individual. One of the strongest people that she knew. Which is why she was surprised when she walked up to the men's door and could hear sobbing on the other side.

She placed one hand on the door intending to go in, but paused. She was a woman and this was a men's bathroom. Socially it would be awkward to go barging in there and it wasn't Greg who was the one crying.

"You okay man?" She heard someone ask.

Greg's response was almost inaudible to her. But the knots in her stomach tightened at the sound of his voice. He was hurting, alone.

Her resolve hardened and she pushed open the door. She slipped inside and looked at her coworker, her friend, her crush. Her heart nearly broke at the sight of him and she wasn't aware of the look the man gave her as he walked out of the room.

"Greg?"

He froze under the faucet. His face was wet, presumably from the water running but there was something else. His usually tanned and smiling face was white and contorted with pain.

She rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him away from the sink.

"Oh, Greg."

He was trying to be strong; she could feel it through his body as he tried to restrain the sobs.

"Greg, let it out. Let it out. I'm here, and I'm not going to go anywhere."

Obeying her request he let the tears fall again. His tall, lean body shook with each gasping breath. He clung to her as tightly as she was clinging to him. She brushed his damp curls aside.

They just held each other for a while, neither one wanting the other to let go. Finally Morgan pulled back and gently wiped the tears from Greg's face.

"Listen Greg, I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I really do. You're afraid people will perceive you as weak or less of a man. I feel very similar about my situation, but the thing is Greg, that is the exact opposite. People couldn't think any less of you even if they tried. You're a brave man and that's what I lo-" she broke off, but he didn't seem to notice. "I admire that about you Greg. You follow your heart. So if you want to talk, I'm always here."

She gave a quick kiss on the cheek and moved to leave. Her daring surprised her. Did she really just do that?

He grabbed her wrist and held her in position. Faint memories danced on her brain, but the sight of Greg, the touch of him on her arm coaxed those awful memories back into hiding. She wasn't afraid of Greg. She knew he would protect her with his life. She stayed.

"I killed a man."

This revelation did nothing to Morgan's stance. If anything she took a step closer.

"There was some gang running around beating tourists. They had killed one man and severely injured another woman. I was on my way to a scene possibly related to the beatings when I took a turn in an alleyway. There I saw the same gang beating on another man. I called it in, but by the time patrol would have gotten there, that man could have been dead."

A deep breath.

"So I did what I could to break up the mob. A man's life was at stake. There was no time to wait. Most of the crowd dissipated quickly. But one attacker didn't run away. Instead he picked up a rock and moved to finish the man with a blow to the head. Instead he began to run and raised the rock to attack me. Scared for my life, I hit the accelerator. I hit him. Later in the hospital he died during surgery. I killed him."

He stopped speaking.

"That doesn't sound like you killed him to me. You were acting in self-defense. You saved that man's life and yours, didn't you?" Her eyes searched his wet brown ones. She felt a pang in her heart. "What else happened?"

"The gang came back. They pulled me from my car and proceeded to beat me. I couldn't defend myself. I'm not sure how long they proceeded to beat me; all I knew was that they left me to die. I was out of commission for a while."

Greg sat down on the bathroom floor. Morgan slid down the wall next him.

"For the longest time, I was afraid of walking into alleys alone. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't experience some repercussions of the event. Sometimes it's a nightmare, other times a fleeting thought that causes me to stop and remind myself that there is nothing that I could have done and move on. But that's hard to do alone."

Morgan laid a hand on his arm. "In my experience, it's best to not try and do it alone. Your friends are all there for you Greg. Nick, Sara, D.B., Catherine. They're there for you. And me Greg. I'm here for you."

Greg looked down at her hand on his arm and placed a hand over the top.

"I was afraid you would think less of me. That you wouldn't think of me as a worthy coworker, able to keep you safe in dangerous situations."

"Greg, do I seem as shallow as to think less of you? If anything, I think more of you." _In more ways than one._

"Thank you." He gave her a slight smile and patted her hand. Then he withdrew it. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair.

Morgan licked her lips and stood as well. It was now or never.

"And I should thank you as well."

Greg looked surprised. "What for?"

Morgan walked closer to him and grabbed his hand. If he wasn't getting the message through her touch, she would just have to tell him.

"For not giving up on me while I was, gone."

"None of us did, you know that right?" He looked a little confused.

From her grip on his hand and wrist she could feel as his pulse increased. Inwardly she smiled, so he was getting the message. That thought had her own heart racing as well. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned her mouth towards his ear.

"My father told me about what happened with Samantha. Very, very sweet and noble of you. But next time, try not to wear your feelings so openly on your sleeve. People could make assumptions about us."

She drew back and there on Greg's face was a look of shock. Dots were connecting in his brain. She pulled even farther away, allowing his hand to slip through her fingers.

Morgan was just beginning to open the door to leave Greg to his thoughts when a hand reached above her and shut the door before she could escape back into the restaurant. She was spun around.

"What assumptions?"

"You know, the one where you and I we – mphf!"

She found his lips on hers and it was sweet. And gentle. She didn't want sweet. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her. He responded quickly, sweetness forgotten, hunger and passion in its place.

They remained embraced as Greg's hands moved from the door to her face, before travelling even further down her body and settling on her hips.

Eventually he broke off. Morgan bit back a whine.

"This isn't the right time or place. We _are_ in a public building after all."

"Oh. Right," Morgan answered blushing. Her hands left Greg and hurriedly went of her hair and blouse to fix it. "Plus Nick and Sara are still waiting for us. And people might want to be using this bathroom."

It was Greg's turn to flush red.

"C'mon, let's go."

* * *

Having had their bill paid already, they walked outside into the parking lot, ready to apologize to Nick and Sara for making them wait but were greeted by a nearly empty lot. Greg's Denali still sat where he parked it but the one Morgan had driven over with the other two was missing.

Morgan dug around in her purse for the keys. Not finding them, she moaned.

"Oh my god. They took my car. Can you believe that? They took my ride! How am I supposed to get home?"

Greg took out his phone and his keys and watched as Morgan ranted. Every once and a while his eyes darted over across the street.

"The nerve of them! It's not even my car, it belongs to the department! Oh they're gonna get an earful when I get into work tomorrow!" Morgan stomped back to Greg. He slipped his phone away. "How am I supposed to get home?"

"Well, I could give you a ride, you know?" A sly smile spread across his face.

A pause. Slowly an identical smile appeared on Morgan's face.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Together they walked to his car hand in hand. For once Morgan didn't care about her sweaty palms. And apparently neither did Greg, because his hands were almost as sweaty as hers.

* * *

They held back their giggles as best they could although it didn't really matter. Greg and Morgan wouldn't hear their laughter from across the street in the nice black Denali they were sitting in.

Their plan worked. Even better than what they had hoped for in the beginning.

Quickly Nick withdrew his phone and snapped pictures of the two holding hands and getting into Greg's Denali together. After the dark vehicle vanished from sight he turned to his partner-in-crime.

"Who knew that being there to support Morgan, would actually support and benefit Greg just as much?" Sara thought aloud.

"It's definitely interesting. But they make a really cute couple, don't'cha think?" Nick saved some of his favorite shots to his phone.

"This coming from the guy who told Greg 'don't even think about it'?" Sara teased, starting the car and pulling out of the hidden alleyway.

They drove down the road and both Sara and Nick's phones vibrated. Nick opened the message and read it aloud.

**From: Greg Sanders**

**I know what you two did. I saw you. We'll talk about this later . . . But thank you.**

* * *

**A/N: I wanted Greg and Morgan to have a moment where they bond over past experiences. And for some reason the first room that popped into my head was the men's room. **

**Reviews make the world a happier place. ;D**


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